3 Pevetos and a Pizza

Do y’all remember Webkinz (those adorable stuffed animals that granted you access to the magical online world of kids’ gaming… https://www.webkinz.com)?  Shannon was really into them around the time Caroline was born; as a family we actively supported her passion and maybe got addicted to playing a little “Cash Cow” ourselves.  As a result of this, in what would probably be considered a questionable parenting decision, Caroline became rather attached to Alex’s Webkinz Bulldog named Peveto (after SMU offensive lineman Caleb Peveto). At a very young age, she had to have her stuffed bunny, Ally (at the time called Bunny) an age appropriate stuffed animal, and/or Peveto ( a stuffed animal with potentially dangerous eyes) with her at all times. At this point in time, you may be wondering what Caroline’s attachment to a stuffed animal tied with cheesy online games have to do with Friday and Pizza. 

Friday night pizza night isn’t a particularly creative family tradition.  In fact, I imagine that more families eat pizza on Friday night than don’t (this is solely based on anecdotal evidence and not an official pizza eating scientific study).  Our Friday pizza tradition has changed dramatically over the last 13 years, but we’ve been stuffing ourselves on carbs and cheese almost every Friday night, since before Caroline could crawl.  This brings us back to Caroline’s obsession with Peveto.  While we were in law school, Alex worked in the beer and wine section at Market Street.  At the time, we lived in the neighborhood basically across the road, but you had to walk through an open field (now there’s a Chick Fil-A and Whataburger ) or walk the long way around on the sidewalk.  Since Alex typically worked on Friday nights, Shannon and I would take Caroline in her stroller off-roading to go say howdy to Alex and pick up a take and bake pizza (and maybe a bottle of Yellow Tail Shiraz) to enjoy at home.  It was during one of these treks that Peveto was lost!  At that moment we realized we needed to have backups for Caroline’s beloved friends.  We have never managed to track down a genuine back up for Ally, but we still have 3 Pevetos.  Back… to pizza.  Once we returned home, Shannon, Caroline and I would bake our pizza and enjoy an evening of watching Stacy London and Clinton Kelly teach people “What Not to Wear” (for the record I still want to be on that show).  Since then, we moved a couple of times, Alex no longer sells beer and wine at the Market Street, and “What Not to Wear” is tragically no longer a TV show.  We’ve made our own pizza playing around with different crust types including using an Italian flatbread, but my favorite and the one that has really stuck is grilling pizza. 

Grilled pizza gives your average homemade pizza the extra flavor that you get when you think of a fire baked pizza.  More importantly, it gives you time.  How we use that time has varied as our family’s interests have changed over time.  While the coals were heating up in the early days of grilled pizza nights, we had time for a few rounds of monkey and elephant (a tag game invented by a 3 year old Caroline that required one person to act like a monkey while they chased the other who acted like an elephant.  We have delightful stories of Alex’s boss and co-workers happily playing this game with Caroline while waiting for pizza).  When the girls were playing softball we played catch, and now we enjoy a round or two of Music night. 

Pizza Crust:
1 tsp or ½ packet active dry yeast
4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
⅓ extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

Pour 1 ½ cups warm water into a bowl.  Sprinkle yeast over the water.
Combine the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. 
With an electric mixer on low speed, drizzle the olive oil into the flour mixture until just incorporated.
Gently stir the yeast water mixture, and drizzle it into the flour oil mixture.  Mix until it forms a ball.  (You can also mix by hand until the dough comes together.)
Drizzle a little olive oil into a clean bowl.  Toss the ball of dough in the bowl and turn over to coat in oil.
Cover the bowl with a moist kitchen towel and set in a warm place for 1 to 2 hours, or cover in plastic wrap and store in the fridge for up to 2 days.  
(Here’s where we digress from the “official recipe”)
Divide the dough in half or into as many mini pizzas as you’d like and roll into a ball (we usually get 1 big one and 2 little ones out of a batch, but we can easily get a third little pizza).
On a highly floured surface roll out each ball into a flat circle.  

Grilling the Pizza (by Alex)

For best results, I use a weber kettle grill. 
Light your coals, and when hot, dump them on one side of the kettle. 
Place the rack over the coals. If your rack has hinged sides, make sure the coals are under one of these. 
Once the coals are between 350-400 degrees (according to the very erratic thermometer on the grill), you’ll be ready to start cooking.
Place a pizza crust on top of a layer of foil. This will help deflect heat from the coals and keep from burning the edges. 
Place the foil protected crust so that it is as far away from the coals as it can be. Add wood or wood chips (I use mesquite because I live in Texas. Duh) to get the smoke going, then cover and bake for 5-10 minutes. This really is a judgment call. Just play around with it and see what works for you. 

Remove the crust and flip it over. 
Add Sauce (a little goes a long way!), cheese and toppings to the crust.

Return to the grill and bake until the cheese is melted, adding more wood if needed. 
For a crispier crust, once the cheese is melted, remove the pizza from the grill, spread the coals evenly, and return the pizza for a minute or two. Watch it though, it’ll cook really quickly and you’ll burn the hell out of it if you’re not careful. 
I’d make small “personal” pizzas for the first few runs so that you can afford to lose a few and not wind up calling Dominos.